THE BEER NUT: Unique beers abound at the Extreme Beer Fest

BOSTON – I go to a lot of beer events throughout the year, but the only one I haven’t missed for more than a decade is Beer Advocate’s Extreme Beer Fest.

Held Feb. 3-4 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, the Extreme Beer Fest is one of the most memorable festivals each and every year. Brewers pull out all of the stops – there are weird beers made with strange ingredients, high-alcohol beers, low-alcohol beers, nuanced sour beers and smack-you-in-the-face-with-hops IPAs.

There are truly some unique beers. In all, nearly 80 breweries poured more than 370 beers at the Extreme Beer Fest on Friday and Saturday. It’s impossible to try them all – even if you went to all three sessions, your liver wouldn't be able to handle it. Here are my thoughts based on the 30 or so samples I tried.

Low alcohol does not mean less flavor. No beer proved that more than Common Roots Brewing Company’s Foraged Fruit. This South Glens Fall, New York, brewery’s American wild ale was the lowest alcohol beer at the festival at 2.5 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). Brewed with black currants and Staghorn sumac, the flavors burst from the cup.

The festival's best IPA came from one of the oldest breweries in the country. There’s a lot of talk about New England IPAs, or new-school IPAs, and how a lot of older breweries are scrambling to keep up. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company of Chico, California, and Asheville, North Carolina, is one of the oldest craft breweries in existence, and their Audition Double IPA was the best IPA/double IPA I tasted at the event and one of the best beers at the festival. Take that young breweries.

The best brewery at the festival isn’t super well-known. Each and every year since Trophy Brewing Company has been pouring beer at the Extreme Beer Fest, they’ve been one of the best breweries there. You don’t hear a lot about this Raleigh, North Carolina, brewery. They only sell in their general area. But, if you have a chance, grab their stuff or try it at the next Extreme Beer Fest. This year, Trophy's Dry Banana’d Milky Way, a stout brewed with bananas, Imperial Yacht Rocked, an 8.5 percent ABV pina colada beer, and Smoked Apple Gose, were all top-of-the line beers.

Old school breweries are still awesome. Along with Sierra Nevada, some of the other older breweries that attended the festival are still kicking butt after many years. Dogfish Head Craft Ales was one of the event sponsors, and they brewed the fest beer with the Beer Advocate folks – Puddin’ Wine, an 11.8 percent ABV English barleywine. Firestone-Walker and Lost Abbey, both from California, brought some excellent beers, and Cambridge Brewing Company, as always, were one of the standouts at the Extreme Beer Fest.

If you haven’t been to the Extreme Beer Fest, change that next year. It’s the kind of fest everyone should attend at least once. It’s fun, enjoyable, and unless you try to drink every single beer, it’s memorable.

Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. Email him at nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut. Follow him on Twitter @RealBeerNut and on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerBeerNut.